Little Max Riding Hood
by lethalpancake
Summary: Maximum Ride has only ever seen the outside world once. Her father forbids her from going outside, because of the dangers of the cruel world. But one day he calls her down stairs, because he has a little something he needs her to do, "Your mother is very ill and I made her some cookies and cake, I was wondering if you could take it to her. I'm a little too busy." Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, Little Red Riding Hood or anything else you recognize**

 **This is a oneshot unless I get enough reviews convincing me otherwise. Then I might turn it into an actual story. Maybe**

 **Oh, and in the summary, I had to rephrase what Jeb said because it was too long and wouldn't fit, but yeah, I just thought I'd get that out there in case someone sees it and tells me that I messed up on my summary.**

 _ **Little Max Riding Hood**_

"Max!" Jeb called from downstairs. "Could you come here for a moment?" I must confess, I really didn't want to I was reading one of my most favourite books- Clockwork Princess. I'm going to tell you the truth, this is my twelfth time reading it. And it was my absolute favourite. Ever since I was a little girl, I had always loved reading. I'd read everything I ever had the chance to read. I'd read signs posted on walls if I could, but I couldn't. I can't leave the house. I used to be able to, but that was when I was younger and Jeb still had his hold on me. I'm fifteen now, and he claims that now that I am a teenager, I am impossible to control.

I am never allowed to leave the house, the only time I've ever seen the outside world was when I was five and Jeb had to go to a meeting and had to leave me at the library. Other than that he learned that I could stay home alone, so the only outside world I have seen is the outside of my window. Not that I mind, he's trying to keep me safe. When I was little, there were mysterious disappearances around our area. A child would be kidnapped at a very young age, and there would be no trace of where they had gone. Then years later the bodies would be found. But they weren't like when they had first went missing, they were... mutilated. There were kids with awful, scaly skin- like a reptile of some sort. There were kids with hands that looked like the claws of an animal. But the ones that scared me most were the ones I called erasers. Those were the bodies that had been covered in fur, making an innocent child look like a monster… like a wolf.

But here's the thing. A few years ago, it all stopped. Bodies would disappear still, but they would never be found. Everyone had thought that things would finally go back to the way things were, until one day, a man went into the woods, and spotted the erasers. Hundreds of them. Turns out, the erasers were smarter than everyone had thought. Instead of being left out to die, they made a living for themselves— in the woods. People tried to go and hunt them, but no one ever came back. So people just stopped going. That is why I am never allowed outside, Jeb is afraid that I might be taken.

We live very far from the city, but not very far from the woods, but allow me to tell you why. My mother, Valencia Martinez. She lives not too far from here, she lives in the woods. Deep in. Where nobody goes. Not even the erasers. I have no clue why she lives there, but whenever she comes to visit us, and I ask her why, she tells me that it's the safest place. The erasers never come near her house. They are intelligent creatures, but they think whatever lives that deep in the woods must be dangerous. So it's the ideal place. But I think that she is just crazy— which is why I live with Jeb, not with her. I don't dislike her or anything, I just dislike where she lives. In fact, I love her. Wait, let me rephrase that, I love her mouthwatering chocolate chip cookies.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand, I set my book on my shelf, next to all my other books. I haven't read a new story in a long time, but I don't mind. As strange as it is, I like re-reading books. It's like you're part of their world, and whenever you close the book, you're going on a vacation of sort, but when you open it again, it's like you're back home. So I got up and started to walk down the stairs, all the while thinking about asking Jeb to buy me a new book. He's never really liked how much I read, but he never told me to stop. He knew I loved it, and he would never stop me from doing what I love. And I love him for that.

I reached the living room moments later and saw Jeb sitting on the couch with a basket on the table in front of him. I was about to ask what it was when the smell hit me— chocolate chip cookies! But something told me that they weren't for me. "You called for me father?" Yes, Jeb is my father. And he's a pretty brilliant father. At least as far as fathers go.

"Yes, you see, there's something I need you to do," I gave him a questioning look, "your mother is very ill and I haven't really gotten the opportunity to see her. I made her some cookies and cake, but I don't know if I'll be able to take it to her, it's just that I've been too busy lately. I know it's a lot to ask, but would you mind taking this to her?"

My eyes widened, I couldn't believe my ears. Jeb was letting me go outside! Willingly! I hadn't been outside since forever. He noticed my eyes widening and took that quite wrongly. "It's alright if you don't." He said quickly, "I understand, it's not safe. I wouldn't want to go either if I were y-"

But he didn't get to finish, "Of course I want to go!" I exclaimed, but quickly composed myself, "Um, I mean, I could go if you are unable to. It wouldn't be a problem, father." Father never liked it when I got too excited, because he said that excitement would slowly lead to disrespect. So I never showed him if I ever got too excited. I loved him more than anything in the world, I would never be able to live with myself if he couldn't stand me. I looked at him slowly, expecting him to be angry at my outburst. But he was smiling.

"Maximum, it's okay to get happy. I understand that you haven't been outside in a while, but I need you to understand that I don't want you getting hurt. You mean the world to me and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something were to happen to you." See, this is another reason why I love him, he thinks of me exactly how I think of him."

"Of course I understand that, father. I just didn't want you to be angry with me."

"I could never be angry with you. Now, here is the basket, it has some cookies and cake in it. Your mother has come to visit you quite often, and although you think I don't know, I know that she has given you directions to her cabin." What, how did he know that?! I swear, nothing gets past this guy, "Oh don't look so surprised, your mother is exactly like you, she always does what she isn't supposed to." At that I had to laugh and he smiled at me, "I'll go get you a little something to wear." Was all he said, and he was off.

I couldn't believe it, I was actually going outside. Always being kept in this old, dusty house had begun to make me feel like Rapunzel. I read about her in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Hers was one of my favourite stories. Well, something as big as this couldn't go unrewarded. And there was a basket sitting right in front of me, filled with cookies. No one would notice if I took just one. I looked around the corner and realized it might take a while for Jeb to find me some coat to wear, considering I never need one. So I reached into the basket and pulled out a cookie. I took a bite into it and it as absolutely delicious. Not as good as mother's, mind you, but good. There was obvious use of brown sugar, and clear vanilla notes, and tasted like heaven. The semi-melted chocolate chips completely dissolved in my mouth, leaving that wonderful taste even after I finished it. Who knew father could bake so well? I didn't want to take another one, but what the heck would mother do with so many cookies? She couldn't possibly eat them all herself. I guess I could help her finish them... Just another cookie wouldn't hurt...

I reached in and pulled out another one and put it in my mouth, when I heard a cough behind me. I turned around slowly, half of the cookie still sticking out of my mouth. I saw Jeb standing there, but instead of having a pissed off sort of look, he was smiling, "I can explain."I said quickly, swallowing the cookie.

"Max, I know you love cookies, which is why I made you some of your own as well, but if you keep eating mom's cookies, there won't be any left for her." He said, laughing.

"You made me cookies. Where-"

"You'll get them once you deliver these to your mother. But if you eat another one..." He left his sentence hanging, but I didn't need him to finish either. I nodded, showing I understood. "Good, now, here. It's not to cold so I just got you this, just in case." He held up a red cape-like thing with a hood attached to it. It was plain except for the silver lining and and wing-shaped clips to fasten it around your shoulders. I took one look at it, and immediately loved it. I usually don't care for clothes, but this was beautiful. It was so simple, but still so wonderful. He noticed the way I was looking at it, "It belonged to my sister," he said, "she used to wear it when she was about your age, she never took it off. When I left, I just needed a little something to remind me of her. But I guess you're reminder enough, you look like her."

I was about to ask why he'd never shown it to me before, but resisted the urge. He never spoke about his family, I assumed he still missed them, so I would never pressure him to tell me something. I walked up to him and smiled. I took the cape-thing from him and fastened it around my shoulders, and went to look in the mirror. It looked wonderful! It went so perfectly with my cream-coloured dress. Yes, I wore a dress. Father never bought be anything but dresses. He thinks I need to act more ladylike. Whatever that means. He thinks I act too much like a boy. He told me that if I ever went to a real school, I would have been called a "tomboy", but I really don't see what's wrong with that. Anyways, I looked at myself and I was quite pretty. It's incredible really, what a little thing like this could do. But there was just one problem...

I quickly ran my fingers through my wavy, dirty blond, waist length hair and started to braid it. Once I was done I pulled it over my shoulder. Almost finished... I reached behind my head and pulled my hood up. There. I took another look in the mirror and gasped. The girl in the mirror gasped too. I took a look at myself and was shocked by what I saw. The girl staring back at me was simply stunning. Jeb had always told me I was pretty, but I never saw it. Now I did. I always thought he said that because parents are supposed to think that their daughters are beautiful. But now, this, I was seeing what he always did. I didn't look pretty, nor did I look beautiful, neither did I look stunning. I looked as radiant as the sun. My chocolate eyes looked beautiful with my bangs that I had slightly tucked behind my ear. My hair looked gorgeous with the colour of the hood. I never realized what a beautiful colour red was. Not to mention how well it went with my cream-coloured dress.

I smiled and turned to Jeb, "I love it."

"You look beautiful. Exactly like Anne." Anne was his sister, and as far as I knew, she was the best thing that ever happened to him— his little sister. So I guessed that he meant it as a compliment.

"I'll be off now." I grabbed the basket and headed for the door, but at the last second Jeb grabbed me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. Can't *gasp* breathe.

"Be careful, okay? Be back before sunset. Only stay at her house for about an hour. Actually, stay for less. I want you to watch out for erasers too, if one of them kills you, I will personally haul you out of your grave and kill you again. Stay out of the way of trouble. Trouble is hardly ever hiding, but that doesn't mean you have to play hide-and-seek with it. Go and come back within three hours. No more. If you-"

I cut him off, "I promise to be safe. Now let go of me before you kill me even before I leave." I wheezed. He suddenly realized that he had destroyed about half of the bones in my body and quickly let go. He apologized to me sheepishly, and when I turned to leave again, he pulled me in again, claiming it was the "last hug". Ugh, grown ups.

I quickly turned and ran out the door before he could give me more "last hugs". I ran for about fifteen minutes, and was already pretty far from the house. Actually, I had almost reached the woods. I took a deep breath of the fresh air that I hadn't smelt since I was a child and sighed dramatically. It was wonderful. I looked around quickly and walked into the woods, and the sun was immediately blocked out by the trees. Suddenly, I was feeling very creepily watched. Like I wasn't alone anymore. Like there was someone keeping track of my every step. Like nothing I was doing was going unchecked.

I walked for about half an hour, when I saw something. It looked like... a tail. Aw shit. I quickly continued to walk, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. I continued on my way, heading for Mother's house when something popped out at me, and I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was a wolf! A god-damned wolf! I jumped back and started swinging my basket at it, but it kept coming closer. I started backing away, getting ready to run, when my back touched something solid- a tree. I was cornered.

The wolf kept coming closer, and when it was close enough that I could reach out and touch it, I closed my eyes tight, and quickly said, "If you're gonna eat me, do it quick. Hey, wait, do me a favour, don't chew me. I don't taste good." I know, when someone's about to die, they probably start swearing and stuff, but hey, I really didn't want to get chewed. That would freaking hurt, man! Have you ever been chewed? Yeah, I don't think so. Not that I have, but still.

My eyes were still screwed tightly shut, when I felt something brush my hand. It felt so soft, almost like feathers sweeping my fingers. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that the wolf had lightly brushed it's head along the side of my hand. I looked at it as it brushed my hand again, and I jerked back, dropping the basket. The wolf started clawing at the basket. What the...? Oh, I get it, it wanted something to eat! I reached in and pulled out a cookie, "you want that?" I asked it. I tossed it onto the ground. I've heard that cats can't eat chocolate, but this wasn't a cat, so I doubt it would've died. Right? Right...?

I watched as the wolf scarfed the cookie down in one huge bite and gasped. It turned to look at me again , and I took out three more and tossed them onto ground too. Then I began to think. There was no way this thing was an eraser, it was just a regular wolf. Erasers couldn't completely morph into wolves, could they? Probably not. The wolf then turned to me again and pawed at the basket again. "Look, I can't give you these. They're for my mother. Go away." I didn't move so I made a "shoo" motion with my hand, "go on. Get outta here." I kept waving my hand, but it wouldn't move, so I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed another cookie, I was starting to run dangerously low, and threw it as far as I could. The wolf's head turned in the direction the cookie went and ran after it. I was so relieved, I let out a breathe I hadn't noticed I'd been holding. Oh thank goodness.

I took off running deeper into the woods as fast as I could, and soon enough I could see my mother's cabin in the distance. I was so relieved, I'm not kidding, I almost cried. I never wanted to see another wolf for as long as I lived. At least, I think it was a wolf, but there was something about it. It's eyes, they looked like they were a human's, but that's impossible. Erasers can't completely turn into wolves. They just ... can't.

I ran up to the house as fast as my legs could carry me, and I reached it in under ten minutes. I lifted my hand on the door and knocked, "Mother, it's me! I brought you something to eat. To help you get better." I called.

Her voice answered, but it was all raspy, which I suspect was from the illness, "The door is unlocked, you can come in. I'm too tired, I can't get up."

I quickly opened the door, got in, closed it behind me, and ran to the bed- I needed to see my mother! She sounded so sick. How could she possibly be so ill she was unable to get up? When I reached the bed I gasped when I saw her. Something looked wrong. She had her blanket wrapped around her body completely, but it was all lumpy, and looked very strange. She was wearing glasses I had never seen her wear before. And she was wearing a hat-thingie that covered her hair and cast a shadow on her face. The cap covered her ears, but from the looks of it, her ears were swollen or something, they looks huge. I also noticed that the window was closed.

"Why is the window closed, you should be getting some fresh air in here." I moved to open it, but stopped when she spoke.

"I was getting cold. But what did you bring me, my dear?" She sounded terrible.

"Some cake and cookies. But the cookies are mostly gone, I'm afraid."

"That's quite alright, you can put them on the table."

I did as instructed then turned back to look at her, "Mother?"

"Yes, dear?"

"What big eyes you have?"

She suddenly tensed up, but answered, "All the better to see you with, my dear."

"What big ears you have?"

"All the better to hear you with, my dear."

"What big teeth you have?"

And she finally snapped, "All the better to eat you with," she snarled and jumped up. The blanket fell to the ground, and she tore the glasses and hat off too. I didn't even bother to gasp, I had anticipated what happened next. Before me didn't stand my mother, it was an eraser, just like I thought. I wasn't stupid, I was just making it think I was. Hah! And you guys doubted me. Oh ye of little faith! I quickly basked in my moment of glory, thinking about how amazing I was, when it finally registered in my mind. There was a damned eraser in front of me! "Dammit!" I shouted, then screamed at the top of my lungs when it lunged at me, I tried to move out of the way, but it was too fast, it landed on me, knocking me to the ground. I gasped for breath, as it had knocked the breath right out of my lungs. Only now, the eraser wasn't in front of me, instead, it was the wolf I had given the cookies to in the woods. It had been an eraser!

I coughed as its horrible breath hit my face, it was disgusting, "It was you," I exclaimed, "you were the ones I gave cookies to in they woods." And it grinned at me. I must admit, I was terrified, have you ever had a wolf grin at you? No? Well, it's terrible. It showed awful, long teeth that looked ready to rip my throat out.

Then suddenly, it spoke, "Yes, it was me. You gave me something to eat, little girl, and I'm thankful for that, but you would taste much better."

"Where is my mother?" My voice shook, I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. And the wolf knew that too. It changed back into an eraser and laughed. The noise sounded like poison to my ears. It was a guttural noise that filled me with a hate so fierce, I was scaring myself. But for some reason, I didn't cry. I was upset for my mother,'s death, of course, but it didn't really hit me all that hard. I barely know her, really. She wasn't the one who raised me, there were times when I heard her say that she actually regretted me being born and then Jeb would scream at her telling her she was crazy. He'd tell her that I was amazing, and that she was a fool not to see it. But he'd kind of whisper it, so that I wouldn't hear. But I did. I heard every time. So really, I didn't care too much about her death. But she was still my mother, so that had to be worth something. As little as that something was.

I squirmed under the weight of the creature, "get off of me you disgusting, awful creature!" It didn't, instead it raked a claw across cheek, slicing three slits in my face. "I said get off of me, you freak!" At this it got even angrier.

"My name is Ari!" It roared and lunged at me again, but I was faster this time, having anticipated the move. I quickly stepped to the side, but he turned to face me again and grabbed me by the front of my dress and literally threw me. I crashed into the wall at the other side of the room and fell on the table, having the glass shatter underneath me. I tried to get up, but pieces were embedding themselves into my palms. He came at me again, but this time I was a bit more prepared. I pulled a rather long and sharp shard out of my palm and, when he reached me, I shoved it into his arm, and he jumped back in shock, not expecting me to fight back. I quickly pulled the remaining shards out of my bloody hands, trying not to wince, and threw them to the floor.

Ari ran at me again, angrier now then he was before slashed at me once again with his claws. This time I had used my arms to cover my face, so ended up tearing my sleeves to shreds and cutting into my arms a little too. I winced as I saw the crimson liquid dripping from my hands and arms, down my dress. He slowly started walking towards me again, and I started backing away slowly, but soon enough, I reached a dead end. I hit the wall, and it was nowhere near the door or the window. The window was open, if I had been near it, I could have made a break for it, but there was no way I could make it from where I was now.

Wait a second. I don't recall the window being open when I first came into the room. Actually, I asked her why she, um, he had it closed. He said he was too cold, which is why I didn't open it. So who had?

By this time, Ari was right in face. I did the same thing I did the first time I met him. I closed my eyes tightly, willing this all to go away, but I knew it wouldn't. The only thing I could really think, was that I had definitely been gone for much longer than Jeb had expected me to be. He was probably worried sick. What was I going to tell him? Then suddenly I felt something warm hit my face. I opened my eyes and something was dripping down my face. Ew! He coughed blood in my face! What the hell? Was this some kind of new technique- make your opponent feel disgusted so that they get too distracted and not pay attention to the matter at hand. I used my torn up sleeve to wipe my face and then looked at the ground, and, sure enough, there lay Ari. An ax protruding from his back, severing his spine and piercing his heart, all in one. I've read of people doing that, but I'd never actually seen it.

I looked up to see who had saved my life, and was met with two boys who were completely unfamiliar. They both had to be only one or two years older than me. One of the boys had pale skin, strawberry blond hair, piercing blue eyes and was wearing a white shirt with blue jeans. The other was pretty much the complete opposite. He had olive toned skin, obsidian black hair, dark brown eyes, and was wearing a black shirt with dark blue jeans.

I was left completely speechless, unsure of what to say, why the blond boy spoke up, "You look like crap." Was all he said.

I must say, that surprised me, in every book I had ever read, this wasn't how the scene went. Usually the guy would be much more kind. I turned to face him, "Oh gee, thanks. You know, 'cause I was totally expecting to look like a princess right after I was attacked by some freaky human wolf hybrid."

They both looked surprised, probably expecting me to be about more shaken, but to be honest, I was just pissed. Then the dark one spoke, "Excuse my brother's idiocy. He's very stupid."

"Damn blunt."

He smirked at my comment while the other just scowled, "My name is Fang, and this moron here is Iggy." What the hell? Who named these guys? Well, I guess I can't judge, my name is Maximum Ride. Probably sensing my confusion he said, "We named ourselves, we haven't got parents." Oh.

I would have said I was sorry, but seriously, I know that saying sorry for something like this doesn't mean anything, so I didn't say it. And they looked relieved that I didn't, "you probably already noticed that I won't say sorry, since I know it isn't worth crap, but I will say that I share your grief. As you can see, my mother is also dead." I waved a hand at Ari.

Iggy looked at me with wide eyes, "What the hell, man?! Your mom is a boy wolf?!"

I mentally facepalmed and then mentally winced as my scratched up hand mentally smashed into my scratched up face, "What? No! The Eraser ate my mom, you idiot."

He snickered, "Eraser?" He asked, still laughing and I realized I used my name for them in front of these complete strangers. "Eraser as in those rubber things that people use to erase mistakes? So what, you think these guys are made of rubber and have claws?"

"That's what I call them."

"I think it's a great name," said Fang.

"Dude, seriously?"

"Yeah, problem?" Iggy shook his head, "thought so. Anyways, I also happened to notice that you didn't tell us your name."

"I'm Max. Maximum Ride," they both have me weird looks, but I simply said, "look, I believed the 'Iggy and Fang' what makes you think I'm lying?" And they nodded their heads, accepting my answer. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Iggy answered.

I sighed, "My mother was sick so I brought her something's to eat, but we can all so that didn't turn out so well."

"How are you so okay with your mom's death?"

"We were never close."

They nodded seeming to get it, "Well, you know how we have no parents? Yeah, well, that also means we have no home. We were cutting down firewood when we heard screaming, we ignored it. Thinking it had just been out imagination, but then we heard it again maybe fifteen minutes later, so we came to investigate. Lucky for you that we did." I nodded.

"I am very much obliged for your help. I don't know what I would've done if you two hadn't come and saved me." And I meant it too. Father always told me to be polite when someone helps me. He probably just never imagined this sort of situation.

"I just helped, it was mainly Boy Wonder here," Iggy gestured to Fang, who shrugged as though it was no big deal.

I reached out and grabbed his sleeve, "Really, I greatly appreciate what you've done for me. I wouldn't think anyone would ever come in here, scream or no scream."

"I didn't want to, but Fang insisted. He said he had a feeling about it. Like he had to check it out, so I agreed. When he has a feeling, it's usually right." I nodded.

Then I realized something, these two boys had saved my life, I had to something to repay the favour. "Is there anything I can do for you two? Do you need something? Food? Water? Money? Name it, it's yours."

They shook their heads, "We didn't do this so you could repay us for it," Fang said, "we did it because we heard someone who needed help, so we helped.

Then I suddenly had an idea, "You said you don't have homes, right?" They nodded slowly, "How about you come and live with me? Father wouldn't mind, you did save my life after all. Please, don't refuse, I would feel guilty for the rest of my life."

Fang hesitated slightly, but Iggy looked hopefully at Fang, who, seeing this, nodded at me, "I don't know why, I've only just met you, but for some reason, I trust you. And I guess it is about time we got a home."

 **So, how was it? Anyways, I have another story I'm currently working on, it's called, "I'm Not Special, I'm Different" I'd love it if you could go check it out. It's also for Maximum Ride. Review!**

 **Fly on,**

 **DemonicAngel**


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